To Change the Future: The Philosopher's Stone
by Taylor1991
Summary: Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, Ginny, Minerva, Narcissa and Lucius read the first book. At the end of the saga, everyone involved will get the chance to change the future. Will they choose the easy path or the hard one? slash
1. Chapter 1

To Change the Future: The Philosopher's Stone

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter JKR does.

Happy birthday goes out to Slythindor Hybrid (although by the time this is finally published it will either be shortly before or after said date). She requested a DRARRY fic. Here it is gal.

A/N: Warning: This fic will contain Strong language, slash AKA male on male relationship that may or may not be displayed in an explicit manner. You are hereby warned. Things you should know before reading, I am a blind author so if any formatting probs occur they may or may not be fixed. This fic will only be updated once or twice a month, due to the fact that this fic comes secondarily to "Blind Faith" (another fic I've started working on), so if it takes that long for it to update, no it hasn't been abandoned yet. It is and will remain un-beata-ed, because I'm working on my writing skills primarily with this story. If you are looking for spell checked works, check out my other fic. Without further adieu.

To Change the Future: The Philosopher's Stone

Chapter 1 The Boy Who Lived

As the first week of school drew to a close, Draco approached his boy friend on the seventh floor. "Wait up Harry," Draco called. "Want to get some homework time "alone" in the ROR?"

"Sure babe." Harry paced three times along the empty space of wall thinking of what they were in need of. Opening the room Harry said "Is this accceptable,"Draco gaped opened mouthed at the cozy room with a bed in the center of it.

"Err, sure babe, I could use some "study time" to break up the strain of the first week."

Just as things started to heat up, out of the blew, something crashed onto Draco's head. "What in the hell was that," asked Draco, regrettably pulling away from Harry in surprise.

sssssssssssssssssssssssss

The door burst open and a crash was heard, as Ron and Hermione were unceremoniously deposited by a portkey into the Room of Requirement. Quick as a flash, Harry wished the bed away blushing furiously. "Um, err," Ron stuttered.

"I see the two of you've already started working on extra curricular activities." Said Hermione with a smirk on her face.

"in the middle of a prefect meeting, an owl flew into the room bearing what appeared to be a letter. We both grabbed for it at the same time. So that's how we came to find ourselves here." Said Hermione.

"Course you were, considering that none of the other prefects were invited." Quipped Draco. Ron's ears went scarlet, confirming the fact that the two teens had been caught red-handed.

"Seriously though, what are those rather thick tomes doing on the floor?" asked the bushy haired girl, rushing to pick them up with a awed look on her face at the mere amount of reading time she had ahead of her.

Once again, the door flung open, dumping Neville and Luna on to the floor. "Come on in and join the party." Said Harry.

"It seems as if the wrack-spirts want us all to be present for something." Said Luna with a dreamy look on her face.

When Neville stood up, Hermione realized that his robes were covered in dirt, clearly indicating that he had been interrupted by the incessant parchment portkey while in the greenhouses. "Evenesco." Muttered the witch, consequently vanishing the dirt from his clothing.

A bang sounded, as four wizards and witches landed abruptly in the room. "Welcome to the club, guys." Said Neville. "Each and every one of us entered the room in the same manner." Nev covered for Draco and Harry, considering that three of the individuals were adults. Ginny smirked slightly as she saw right through Neville's words, after all, the Weasley twins were her brothers.

"Mrs. Granger why are you holding seven rather hefty books in your arms that appear to be Muggle ones?" asked Minerva McGonagall.

"They materialized brought into the equation after we all came to be here. One can only conclude that we are meant to read them since the room provided them." She replied. Narcissa attempted to peer at the title of the uppermost book but couldn't manage to make it out; shaking her head to Lucius indicating to him alone that she had no clue about the books mysterious origin.

As the room changed shape to accommodate for the occupants needs, Hermione bounced in her seat in anticipation of breaking open the first novel to read. "now that everyone is here and has had time to adjust to their surroundings, would you like to get started?" asked Hermione eagerly.

Minerva took pity on the girl and answered in the affirmative for all, "yes. How do you reckon we should decide upon who reads first?"

"Alphabetical order," Ron guessed as if he were answering a question in class. Hermione wrapped her arm around her boy friends shoulders showing him how much she cared for him.

Draco picked up the first book noticing for the first time that a note was attached to the front cover.

To Whom it May Concern:

If you are reading this, then it is currently your elective seventh year (made optional to repeat and take your NEWT's over due to the strain that the second war placed the wizarding world in). The eight of you have been given the golden opportunity to either change the future, or leave it as is, after you have carefully read all seven books. Choose wisely. When meddling with time, one can either destroy everything in one fail swoop, or change the world for the better. Before each one of you make the choice, talk things through and carefully consider if it's worth the risk or not.

APWBD.

"Who wrote the letter?" asked Draco.

"Love, it was written by Professor Dumbledore." Said Harry with a slight note of anger in his voice at the thought that the meddling old fool had suspected prior to his death that things could go so catastrophically wrong.

The Boy Who Lived

Draco took Harry's hand knowing from the title that this chapter in particular had great potential to annoy his boy friend due to the BWL chattering throughout the wizarding world.

**[Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd**

**expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.]**

"The Muggles sound interesting," Neville said sarcastically.

"They're about as interesting as a flobber worm," Draco said. What surprised everyone was that it appeared that the young Malfoy wasn't bashing them simply because of their heritage; instead purely upon all of the dirt he had accumulated about the family over the years in which he grew to know his eventual lover.

{Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large

mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.]

"Man she sure is nosy," Ginny said.

[The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.]

"Bull shit," Harry scoffed.

[The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.]

"What in the…" exclaimed Ron.

"Language Ron!" admonished Hermione.

"The Potters have always been a very prestigious family. Who do those people think they are?" inquired Narcissa.

[Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish]

"Thank God. I take that supposed insult to my family name as a compliment." Stated Harry.

[as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.]

"For Merlins sake, they talk about you like you're some sort of diseased child; just because you're magical," said Draco. "I love you."

[When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.]

"Your cousin sure is a brat, Harry," said Neville "No offense."

"You don't know the half of it, No offense taken, after all, he's the worlds biggest prat." replied Harry

[None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.]

"Why is there an owl…" inquired Ron.

No one bothered to answer. Growing annoyed by the interruptions of the reading that said people kept causing; Hermione quickly interrupted her boy friend with a hurried kiss to stop him from further speech. Breaking off the kiss after enough time had passed for Ron to get the point, she inquired, "Continue, Draco,"

[At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.]

"Clearly his parents haven't heard of proper diciplination for young children," scoffed Narcissa.

["Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.]

[It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map.]

"Bet it's an Animagus," Hermione said showing just how much hanging with the boys had changed her over the past seven years.

"I bet its McGonagall," Ron said.

"Bet it's a crumple-horned Snork-ack," said Luna dreamily.

"The stakes are set at 5 gallions per bet submitted," said Harry authoritatively taking charge of the betting pool. "All for McGonagall raise your hands then place said gallions in the center of the table," Ron, Harry, and Ginny did so. "Now all for the Crumple-horned Snork-acke," Luna did so with a smile on her face; although, secretly she agreed with the theory that it was indeed the Professor. In support of his girl, Neville also bet alongside Luna. "and for the finale! Random Animagus," Hermione confidently placed her gallions in the pot. Narcissa, Draco, and Lucius did so as well.

If the others had been paying closer attention to Minerva's expression and to the fact that she had abstained from betting herself, they would have chosen accordingly, but the excitement in the room prevented even the most observant of the gang from picking up on the slight hints that Professor McGonagall's body language strongly stated.

[For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen — then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared

at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that

said Privet Drive — no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.

Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.]

[But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.]

"What's the big deal about wearing cloaks?" Ron asked.

"Muggles don't generally wear cloaks or toped black hats for that matter." Answered Draco, astounding everyone that he was willing to learn so much about Harry's customs and way of life before his eleventh birthday.

[Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdoes standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt —these people were obviously collecting for something… yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.]

[Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.]

"Oh no, that doesn't bode well for our families," said Lucius. "There kind is bound to notice. Even the Dursleys aren't that thick."

[Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.]

"I can't see how he manages to keep his job given how much of a berk he is." Said Ginny.

[He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy him a bun from the bakery.]

"I'm sure that will improve his mood immensely," said Draco sarcastically.

"What's wrong with eating to take your mind off things," asked Ron bewildered.

"Never mind, if you let Draco read on you'll see why it's a bad idea for him to cross the street packed with"weirdoes," said Harry (using Vernon's description of the witches and wizards).

[He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch was whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag that he caught a few words of what they were saying.]

["The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard —"]

["— yes, their son, Harry —"]

[Mr. Dursley stopped dead.]

[Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.]

[He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, and seized his telephone,]

"Man, what's gotten the man's knickers in a twist," Ron said.

[and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking… no, he was being stupid.]

Tell me something I don't know. The Dursleys have got to be by far the most intelligent family I've ever had the pleasure to meet," muttered Minerva sarcastically.

[Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry.]

"He doesn't even know his own nephew's name," Narcissa shrieked indignantly.

[He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.]

"Babe, your name is definitely unique," said Draco. "But it's perfect for you."

[There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her — if he'd had a sister like that…]

"There was nothing wrong with my mum thanks you very much," said Harry angrily.

[but all the same, those people in cloaks…]

[He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.]

["Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last!]

"The Muggles didn't realize what a relief that was," said Minerva smiling at the fond memories she had of the brief rest pit the wizarding world was given after his first rained of terror.

[Even Muggles like you should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"]

[And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.]

[Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.]

"Aw, how sad," said Luna looking genuinely upset about the fact.

[As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw—and it didn't improve his mood — was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.]

["Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.]

"That's not going to work on an Animagus," Ron said with a smug smile on his face.

[The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.]

You might as well cough it up now. It appears as if we were right," said Harry.

"Nope," declared Hermione, "All it proves is that "an Animagus" is at the Dursley residence, not the identity of said feline."

[Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.]

[Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:]

["And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"]

["Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."]

[Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…]

"He is finally putting the pieces together," said Draco. "And if this idiot can do it, I would hate to think what the other Muggles have come up with. The Ministry must have been busy that night making alterations to Muggles memories all night."

[Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Err — Petunia, dear — you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"]

[As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister. "No," she said sharply. "Why?"]

["Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"]

["So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.]

["Well, I just thought… maybe… it was something to do with… you knows… her crowd."]

"What's that suppose to mean?" Ron exclaimed angrily.

"I presume that it means witches and wizards, Ronald," said Hermione slightly irritated that her boy friend had been to busy staring at her for the last few minutes instead of listening to Draco.

[Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son — he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"]

["I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.]

["What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"]

["Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."]

["Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."]

[He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.]

[Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of — well, he didn't think he could bear it.]

[The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved; there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind… He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on — he yawned and turned over — it couldn't affect them…]

[How very wrong he was.]

"Good," said Hermione vindictively.

"Why do you say that," asked Neville.

"It's Harry's story to tell, but let's just say that they deserve being a little uneasy," smirked Hermione, daydreaming of giving the Dursleys a telling off as soon as the reading of Harrys story was complete.

[Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't as much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.]

"yep, it just has to be her. It isn't normal cat behavior to sit that still," said Ron in a singsong voice.

[A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cats tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.]

[Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."]

"Pay up," said Ron eagerly. Hermione quickly divided up the pile into thirds leaving the three of them 15 gallions richer than when they entered the room.

[He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.]

"Cool, I want one!" said Neville.

"I always wanted one, until the day I received one in Professor Dumbledore's will. It wasn't worth the cost." Said Ron wisely.

[He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.]

["Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."]

"I'm utterly surprised that more of you didn't pick up on it sooner," said Minerva McGonagall with a smug smile.

[He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled. "How did you know it was me?" she asked.]

"Who else could it be, given that said person was most likely sent there on Dumbledore's orders," scoffed Narcissa.

"Pardon me," said Professor McGonagall "But just how do you know that Dumbledore would be giving anyone orders to watch Harry?"

"It isn't a tightly kept secret that Dumbles is the leader of the Order of the Phoenix. As many Light devoted witches and wizards would like to believe." Said Lucius.

["My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."]

["You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.]

["All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."]

[Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.]

["Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no — even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news."]

[She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."]

["You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."]

["I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."]

"what, it's true." Stated Minerva, after receiving an indignant look from Hermione as soon as Draco paused in his reading.

[She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"]

["It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"]

Shaking his head at Dumbledore's obsession of sweets, Harry squeezed Draco's leg affectionately.

["A what?"]

["A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."]

["No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone —"]

["My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense — for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort."]

To Harry's delight, the only people who flinched as Draco read the name aloud were Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. He was extremely proud of his friends and boy friend.

[Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.'

I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name." "I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."]

["You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."]

["Only because you're too — well —noble to use them."]

["It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."]

[McGonagall's face went scarlet at the implication that Dumbledore might have unresolved feelings towards her, if his blush were anything to go by.]

[Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"]

[It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.]

["What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters.]

[The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are — are — that they're — dead."]

[Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.]

["Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…"]

[Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily.]

[Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.]

[But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke — and that's why he's gone."]

[Dumbledore nodded glumly.]

["It's — it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"]

["We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know."]

[Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"]

["Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"]

["I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."]

"What?" everyone yelled.

["You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore — you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son — I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and lives here!"]

["It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."]

"A letter? Y-you think you can explain all of this in a letter!" shrieked Narcissa, it took a lot to make the Malfoys do so; but when it comes down to the one's they love, they don't hesitate to do so. Ever since Draco had written to his parents informing them about his relationship with Harry, the senior Malfoys had considered him part of the family.

["A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter?]

[These people will never understand him! He'll be famous — a legend — I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future — there will be books written about Harry — every child in our world will know his name!"]

["Exactly." said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"]

[Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes — yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.]

["Hagrid's bringing him."]

Every person in the room save Minerva gaped open mouthed at the mere thought of Hagrid flying over Britain with such a young child. They all knew that the friendly giant meant well but…

["You think it —wise — to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"]

["I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.]

["I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to — what was that?"]

[A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.]

[If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild — long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.]

["Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"]

"Cool," said Neville. "I want one!"

["Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."]

["No problems, were there?"]

["No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we were flyin' over Bristol."]

[Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.]

["Is that where —?" whispered Professor McGonagall.]

["Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."]

["Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"]

["Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well — give him here, Hagrid — we'd better get this over with."]

"Manipulative old coot," muttered Harry after the conclusion of the war and much thought, he came to the realization that Dumbledore cared first and foremost for "The Greater Good" consequences be damned.

[Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.]

["Could I — could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.]

["Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!"]

["S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it —Lily an' James dead — an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles —"]

["Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.]

"F'ING jerk!" exclaimed Narcissa yet again. "If he wakes, he's old enough to be able to toddle off, and if that were to happen…"

[For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.]

["Well," said Dumbledore finally, "That's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."]

["Yeah," said Hagrid in a much muffled voice, "I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall — Professor Dumbledore, sir."]

[Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.]

["I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.]

[Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.]

["Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.]

[A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley… He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!"]

"All hail the Boy-Who-Lived!" teased Ginny. "Can I have your autograph…" she snickered. Grabbing a pillow, he wacked her lightly over the head in retaliation, as soon as she grabbed her own pillow and got in the first wack of her own, a rowdy pillow fight ensued with Harry being victorious.

"Whew!" said Professor McGonagall "I really could use some pumpkin juice." The room quickly provided the requested beverage.

After the room finally settled down, Draco turned towards Harry and said, "Love, would you mind handing the book to Ginny for me?" looking at Harry with those annoying puppy dog eyes that he couldn't possibly resist.


	2. Chapter 2 Vanishing Glass

To Change the Future: The Philosopher's Stone

Chapter Two

Vanishing Glass

Disclaimer: Don't own the copyrights to the books and never will. *pouts*

a/n: I here by sware that each and every chapter following this one will be scanned by Slythindor Hybrid in order to prevent the bold text from being deleted. Thanks girl! Today's my b-day. Here's chapter two, enjoy.

"The Vanishing Glass," Ginny read.

"I wonder what that means and why it's the title of the chapter. It doesn't make sense to me," Ron asked.

"It's most likely some accidental magic that Harry cast, love," Hermione said reasonably.

Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun

rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly

the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really

showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets

"Aw, wasn't he adorable," said McGonagall wiping away a fake tear. Everyone attempted to hide their laughter at the professor's antics but failed spactacularly.

— but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.

Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.

"Up! Get up! Now!"

"Not the nicest way of getting woken up, mate," Ron said.

"It's not, trust me," Harry said.

Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.

"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same

dream before.

"It wasn't really a dream, Harry. You would have been to young to remember flying over London with Hagrid," stated Hermione.

"What do you say we go flying on the bike after we're out of here babe. We can drift in mid-air, turn to face each other, and share a passionate kiss while the wind whips through our hair," asked Draco, suggestfully.

"sure, but unless you like being interrupted by fre-falling, when the bike looses altitude, then, we'd best land first, love," laughed Harry.

His aunt was back outside the door.

"Are you up yet?" she demanded.

"Nearly," said Harry.

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."

Harry groaned.

"You just love ickle Dudders birthday don't you," said Ginny sarcastically.

"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.

"Nothing, nothing…"

Dudley's birthday — how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them,

"urgh!" said Ron.

put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.

"WHAT?" Narcissa and Lucius screamed in unison.

Draco just gave Harrys shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

"How dare they…" Minerva started but was unable to finish. It was clear that she had more to say, but she just couldn't find the words. 'I told the old fool not to leave him with such horrid people.'

"Those horrible, evil, gits…" Hermione could be heard muttering, gritting her teeth together.

When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley

had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.

"Damn, they spoil him rotten," Nev said.

Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise — unless of course it involved punching somebody.

"That better not mean you, Harry, If it is, I'll make sure that he comes into contact with a pigsnout," said Luna, showing everyone an entirely different side of her. Ron opened his mouth as if to ask what in the hell said creature was, when Hermione quickly kissed him to prevent him from doing just that.

Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.

"Well, at least there's that," said Draco, "If any of those horrid excuses for muggles ever lays a hand on you, they'll regret the day they were born."

Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair,

"Just like his father," said Professor McGonagall.

and bright green eyes.

"At least you have your mothers eyes," said Draco staring lovingly into said eyes.

He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.

"You liked the scar?" Neville asked.

"Well, yeah, it was something unique, that clearly showed that my life consisted of other aspects apart from Dumb and dumber, (the whole room broke out into laughter at that breaking the tension) and kind of cool," Harry said and Neville just shook his head, he couldn't believe that Harry ever liked that scar, seeing how much it bothers him now.

He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.

"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said.

"How dare they deny you the knowledge of your parents deaths like that. Your parents didn't die in a car crash," Narcissa said, her anger flaring up again. "How could you lie to him like that? He deserves the truth."

Don't ask questions — that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.

"How is he suppose to learn, if he can't ask questions?" Hermione said indignantly, she took learning seriously. Suddenly, her expression grew steaderly angrier, as she came to the realization that such "rules" could mean that far worse could be going on in the Dursley household than Harry had ever confided in them; she was determined to find out and make them pay if this were the case.

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.

"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.

"That won't work," Harry said.

Draco ruffled Harrys hair in order to style it just the way he secretly liked it, wind swept.

About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the

rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over the place.

Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head.

"So like a pig in a wig," Ron said causing everyone to laugh.

Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.

Harry put the plates of eggs and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.

"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."

"Merlin, what a spoiled brat," Ginny said.

"He can count that high," said Neville, "It's a miracle."

"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."

"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.

"Good idea, mate. If The Whail knocked it over on you, it would have F'ING hurt." said Ron.

"Language," admonished Hermione.

Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"

"That is no way to handle the situation," Narcissa said looking appalled. "She's just going to make him worse."

Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty… thirty…"

"Godric, he can't even count!" Draco exclaimed.

"You'd best watch your tongue, Draco," warned Narcissa.

"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.

"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."

Uncle Vernon chuckled.

"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.

At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.

He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.

"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him."

"Figg, the Mrs. Figg who worked in the order? Don't tell me that Dumbledore knew everything and still didn't do a damn thing about it," Minerva said. Hermione looked God-smacked at the mere thought that, yes, her teachers slipped up and cursed sometimes.

She jerked her head in Harry's direction.

Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.

"Maybe it's not her then, you'd think she would treat him better then that," Minerva said.

"No it's her," Harry said. "She couldn't be nice to me, because then the Dursleys wouldn't have left me there if she was."

"That's horrible!" Hermione said, Harry just shrugged his shoulders.

"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg,

but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.

"That wasn't very nice of you Harry," Hermione reprimanded him.

"Sorry," he said smiling.

"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."

"Why don't they call you by your name or even say it for that matter," Neville asked.

"I have no idea, honestly." Harry said.

The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there — or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.

"How did you survive, that's horrible." Said Luna dreamily.

"What about what's-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?"

"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.

"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's

computer).

"Unlikely, they would never allow you to have that much fun, Harry," Draco said angrily.

Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.

"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.

"What do they think you'll be upto, planning to blow the whole house up," Ron said.

"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.

"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car…"

"What is he, a dog?" Narcissa said indignantly.

"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…"

Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying — it had been years since he'd really cried — but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.

"Dinky Duddydums,

Everyone laughed, "Oh, my God! She actually calls him that."

don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.

"I… don't… want… him… t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.

Just then, the doorbell rang — "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother.

Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.

"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy — any funny business, anything at all

— and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."

"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"

But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.

"I don't think I like were this is going," Hermione said thoughtfully.

The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.

Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.

"That's too bad mate," Ron said towards Harry. "Kids can be really hard."

"You get use to it," Luna said.

Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.

"It seems as if you show some metamorph traits, Harry," Lucius said thoughtful.

He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.

"They punished you for that," Minerva said, temper rising yet again. "but it was out of your control… surely your Aunt Petunia would have known…"

"Exactly, that's the point. She hates magic… she even goes as far as to call it the "M" word," Harry said bitterly.

Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).

"That's ghastly, whatever you did to such horrid clothing would be worth the punishment," Ron said, causing everyone to laugh, although a little bitterness was still

in the air.

The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry.

Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.

"Bravo!" said Ron high-fiving Harry, "And you didn't get punished."

On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.

"You Apparated. At such a young age," Lucius said letting out a whistle clearly impressed.

The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do

(as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trashcans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that

the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.

"Not a very clever excuse there Harry," Ron teased.

"I was about nine years old at the time, can't a guy give a bloke a break," Harry said.

But today, nothing was going to go wrong.

"Haven't you learned by now to never say those words, cause when you do, usually the opposite happens," said Ginny.

It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard,

or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.

While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.

"Man, they seem to really like you Harry," Draco said with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Well I really like them too," Harry replied.

"… roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."

"Good one Harry," said Ginny sarcasticly, "I mean, it's like totally a good idea to mention anything to do with there worst fears while he's driving."

Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"

"Yes they do," exclaimed Ron, "At least in our world anyways."

Dudley and Piers sniggered.

But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.

"Dangerous ideas," Luna scoffed. "This man is an idiot. It must be the wrack-spirts."

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.

"I've always liked those," Hermione said, "But I have a feeling that the limon ice pop was Harry's first ice cream ever."

It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.

"Good one mate," Nev laughed out loud.

Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.

Draco glared fiercely at the book at this.

They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.

"Bet you were thrilled when he gave it up and they unintentionally by buying their fat kid another one, gave you his," said Draco.

Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.

After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.

"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.

"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.

Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor

was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.

"I would prefer to be in the snakes place," Neville said.

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.

It winked.

"Okay, that's kind of strange," Lucius said, "Unless…but how could the gift of Parseltongue be passed to you? I'd bet that the talent of speaking Parseltongue doesn't run in the Potter family, after all, they are said to only run in families discended directly from Slytherin himself."

"Normally that's the case, but since when have I ever been normal." Said Harry.

Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.

The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:

"I get that all the time."

"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."

The snake nodded vigorously.

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.

The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.

Boa Constrictor, Brazil.

"Was it nice there?"

The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?"

"Well, this snake seems rather nice for a change, even if it is a bit slimy," Neville said, it was well known among the group of friends that Nev had a fear of snakes in general.

As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"

Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.

"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.

"He's a total brat. He's badly in need of an attitude adjustment," said Hermione.

What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.

"Impressive, what on earth did you do?" Ginny said looking at the raven-haired boy, excitedly who just smirked at her.

Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.

"Wow, that's a very impressive display of accidental magic there," said Lucius, looking at Harry in amazement.

The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.

As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo."

"Cool, I would like to go to Brazil myself," said Hermione, looking pointedly at her boy friend, "Would you be interested in going as well?"

"Sure love, I'd do anything for you," he said smiling goofily at her.

The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.

"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"

The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?".

"Idiot! You'll get Harry into trouble now," said Draco, so angrily that he unintentionally talked to the book as if it could hear him, in a manner very unlike a pure blood would.

Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy

"Those bastards," said Ron furiously. Hermione had reached the point where she didn't even try to nag her boy about his language, because for once, she quite agreed with him.

Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet.

Ron gave an unvoluntary flinch at the mention of being surrounded by spiders in such a small place.

Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.

"Love you babe, you were already showing some Slytherin tendencies so young…" Draco said beaming.

He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in

that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.

Ginny hurriedly read through this, as no one had the slightest desire to hear about something as depressing as Harrys childhood, and the lies he'd been told; especially since they were no where near through with all seven books and until then, had no way to exact revenge upon them at the present time.

This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all.

Pecking Harry on the lips, Draco said, "I'm sorry that you never got to know them. I would do anything to change it if I could. You know that?"

His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.

When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened;

the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.

A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.

"I for one am relieved that what appears to be members of "the old crowd" were checking up on you," said Minerva.

At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.

Ron's stomach let out a loud growel, "I'm hungry, when do you lot want to eat dinner," asked Ron.

"You're always hungry," said Ginny.

"Honey, let's wait until we finish the next chapter or two," said Hermione.

"I second that," said Harry, wanting to wait until he left the Dursleys house (in the book), as I don't have any appotite at the moment." Everyone except for Ron were in agreement with Hermione, so the decision was final. Ron pouted.

"Hand me the book, lil sis," Harry said.

A/n: Hope you enjoyed. This chappie doesn't have any smut in it, but not every one will involve anything "romantic".


	3. Chapter 3 Letters from No One?

To Change the Future: The Philosopher's Stone

Chapter Three

Letters From No One

Disclaimer: Don't own it no matter how much I wish this were the case.

A/N: Thanks to Slythindor Hybrid for helping me make this chappie what it is today. Enjoy. Since the both of us are having problems with docx for some unknown reason, the only alternative I could come up with to make your read easier is to use [] brackets at the beginning and end of each paragraph of the original text. If any of you have any better solusions besides bold, italix, (can't get them to work) let me know. If this is a success, I'll reupload chappies 1 and 2 with the brackets. Please voice your opinion in a review.

Opening the book onto the first page of the third chapter, Harry began, "Letters From No One,"

"That's impossible," said Ron, "surely you've received fan mail over the years…"

"Nope, I was ignorant of everything until…" Harry trailed off not wanting to let the cat out of the bag.

"What!" exclaimed Narcissa.

"Okay guys," said Hermione irritably, "I understand your outrage, but I for one would like to continue reading. After all, where would the fun be in Harry giving us all of the answers?"

"I bet you 2 gallions that the letters are fan mail," said Ginny blushing at the mere fact that she was one of those who wrote to him as a child.

"You're on," said Draco, "I bet it's your Hogwarts letter, after all love, you were around eleven at this point?"

"Not telling," smirked Harry.

"Any more takers," asked Neville.

"Not getting in the middle of this one," said Hermione.

Harry continued reading:

{The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment.}

Narcissa scowled at the book upon hearing this.

{By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.}

{Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.}

"Bloody brilliant," said Ron sarcastically.

{The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting.}

Draco wrapped an arm affectionately around Harrys shoulders giving him a light squeeze.

{This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.}

"I couldn't have cared less where I went, as long as I was away from that prat," Harry said. "I thought that I might have a chance to make some friends, and I would be able to stop failing all of my classes on purpose."

"Why on Earth would you intentionally fail your classes?" inquired Minerva, though she had her suspicions.

"I couldn't do better then Dudley, and he's not a very smart bloke," Harry said confirming the Professor's theory.

{"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"}

{"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it — it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.}

"Good one mate," Nev said as everyone laughed.

{One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's.}

"Seems you didn't escape Mrs. Figg and her cats after all." Draco teased.

{Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.}

{That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters.}

Everyone broke out into uncontrollable laughter at this.

{They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.}

"How in the hell would that help you later on in life?" Ron said.

"If you swear one more time Ron, so help me, you'll regret it," Hermione said glaring sternly at her boy friend.

{As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.}

{There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.}

{"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.}

{"Your new school uniform," she said.}

{Harry looked in the bowl again.}

{"Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."}

"Sarcasm doesn't work on her." said Lucius.

{"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."}

"Yeah… right," Narcissa said slowly rolling her eyes. "Sometimes I don't know if she really is that thick or just likes to act like an idiot on purpose."

{Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue.}

{He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High — like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.}

{Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and

Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.}

{They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.}

{"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.}

{"Make Harry get it."}

{"Get the mail, Harry."}

{"Make Dudley get it."}

{"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."}

{Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and — a letter for Harry.}

"Hogwarts' letter perchance," Draco said excitedly.

{Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him.}

"See Gin-gin," said Ron, "He hasn't ever gotten fan mail." Ginny blushed bright-red at this.

"Dumbledore must have redirected his mail in order to keep the Boy-Who-Lived in the dark about the wizarding world as a whole." Said Minerva angrily.

"Pay up," said Draco victoriously. Placing her two gallions in the center of the table Ginny said hurridly, "Take it."

{Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives — he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:}

{Mr. H. Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs 4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey}

Narcissa's lips thinned at the mention of the way her son's lover had lived prior to Hogwarts, and more than likely throughout his Hogwarts years as well.

"You jumped the gun just a bit don't you think Draco," said Hermione.

"Does it really matter, a Malfoys always right in the end."

"But…" said Ginny.

"Drake in future, wait until it's quite clear whose right before declaring that you were right," said Harry "The only reason I allowed her to cough up was that I already knew you were correct. Don't always expect me to audomatically take your side on things. I love you, but I stand up for what's right…hence you won't get any free passes with me."

"Yes Har, whatever you say."

He hurridly began reading again to avoid further discussions concerning the same topic.

{The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink.}

{There was no stamp.}

{Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.}

{"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.}

{Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.}

{Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.}

{"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk…"}

{"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"}

"Shut up," Ginny hissed.

{Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter,}

"No Harry, you should have opened it in private," Draco said.

"I know that now," Harry said. "I didn't realize that they would care if I got a letter."

{which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.}

{"That's mine!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.}

{"Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.}

{"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.}

{Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.}

{"Vernon! Oh my goodness — Vernon!"}

"They don't seem too pleased about the Hogwarts letter," Draco chuckled.

"No, and it only made me more eager to read it," Harry said.

{They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.}

{"I want to read that letter," he said loudly.}

"And what, prey tell, entitles you to read that letter?" Ron asked.

"Nothing, but the prat gets everything else he wants, so why not this?" Harry said bitterly.

{"I want to read it," said Harry furiously, "As it's mine."}

{"Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.}

{Harry didn't move.}

{"I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.}

"See,he's gotten his mum's temper," Neville said grinning. Harry grinned back at his friend, even as he felt indignant at being compared to his mum.

Even a year ago Neville wouldn't have felt comfortable enough to say that, much less with everyone in the room. Harry was extremely proud of his friend's growth in self-confidence over the past year.

{"Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.}

{"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.}

"You've always been my little Slytherin haven't you Har," asked Draco teasingly.

{"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "Look at the address — how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"}

{"Watching — spying — might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.}

{"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want —"}

{Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.}

{"No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer… Yes, that's best… we won't do anything…"}

"That's not going to work," Luna said in a singsong voice.

"But —"

{"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"}

{That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.}

{"Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?"}

{"No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly.}

{"I have burned it."}

"Why you piece of pond scum," Ginny said furiously.

{"It was not a mistake," said Harry angrily, "It had my cupboard on it."}

{"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling.}

{He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.}

Harry quickly read through this part blushing all the while.

{"Er — yes, Harry — about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking… you're really getting a bit big for it… we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."}

"What?" Draco said beside himself now as he turned to Harry. "You had to sleep in a cupboard and they… that … he had two bedrooms."

"Yes," Harry said truly afraid of his boy friend for the first time. He could feel the magic pouring off of him in waves in his anger.

" Um, there's also a guest room," he said in a low voice.

"love, how did you handle it…" asked Draco rhetorically.

{"Why?" said Harry.}

{"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."}

{The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been canceled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.}

"Merlin's balls!" said Draco. "He's a totally spoiled brat!"

"Draco Malfoy! If I ever hear you using such language, I'll wash your mouth out," Narcissarepramanded him. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes mum."

{From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't want him in there… I need that room… make him get out…"}

"It was the first time ever that he didn't get what he wanted," Harry stated.

{Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.}

{Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.}

{When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it."

"I really wish he hadn't," Harry said gloomily, then he remembered his encounter with Hagrid and thought that maybe things worked out for the best.

{They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive —'"}

{With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.}

{"Go to your cupboard — I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley — go — just go."}

"About damn time the little brat was made to go to his room," said Nev.

{Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.}

{The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning.}

"Wow," said Ginny. "You had a considerable amount of control on your accidental magic as a kid!" Blushing furiously at the praise Harry picked up reading where he had left off.

{Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.}

"Not a bad plan," Ron said.

{He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door —}

{"AAAAARRRGH!"}

{Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat — something alive!"

"Oh drat, the muggle thought of it too," Draco said. "At least you got to step on him."

{Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face. Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.}

{"I want —" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.}

{Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day.}

{He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.}

{"See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "If they can't deliver them they'll just give up."}

"You wish," said Luna.

{"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."}

{"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.}

"That's something that we're all proud of," said Ron.

{On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.}

"Wicked." Said Neville.

{Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out.}

"He's lost his marbles." Said Ron.

"He never had any to loos to begaine with," snickered Harry.

{He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.}

"You know, things are a lot funnier now," Harry said laughing at his uncle's crazy antics.

{On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two-dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.}

{"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.}

"A tun of people actually," Neville said.

{On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.}

{"No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "No damn letters today —"}

{Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one —}

"Why didn't you just pick one off the floor mate?" Ron asked.

Harry blushed, he hadn't thought of that.

{"Out! OUT!" Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall. When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.}

{"That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"}

"He's gone round the twist." Said Minerva.

{He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.}

The room broke out into gales of laughter at Dudleys ignorance in attempting to pack that much stuff into a sports bag.

{They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while.}

{"Shake 'em off… shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.}

"I don't believe it, but he has gone even more mental then he was before," Hermione said, receiving laughs from everyone.

{They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life.}

"boo-hoo,"said Luna.

{He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.}

{"Welcome to my life, Dud," Harry said.}

{Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering}…

{They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.}

{"'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."}

{She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:}

{Mr. H. Potter

Room 17

Railview Hotel

Cokeworth}

{Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.}

{"I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.}

{"Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her.}

"She must have finally realized that it was pointless to run," Lucius reasoned.

{Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.}

{"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.}

{Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared.}

{It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled.}

{"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television."}

"Bloody prat," said Draco. "He can't even go one week without his computer and variouss other accessories."

"Could you Malfoy?" asked Ron, knowing full well that Draco would be hard put to do the same.

{Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday — and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television — then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday.}

{Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun — last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.}

"That's horrible!" exclaimed Narcissa.

{Still, you weren't eleven every day.}

{Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling.}

{He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.}

{"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"}

Harry scoffed.

{It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.}

{"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"}

{A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.}

{"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "So all aboard!"}

{It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.}

{The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.}

{Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas.}

"The pig and his father won't survive on such little rations," said Ron. "They'll be positively miserable!"

{He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.}

{"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.}

"Oh just you wait," Minerva said muttering under her breath.

{He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail.}

{Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.}

"You're kind of a pessimist, you know, Harry," Luna said.

"You would be too, if you lived my life," Harry said.

{As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.}

{The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.}

{Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did.}

{Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.}

{Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?}

"You have a very vivid imagination," said Nev.

{One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds… twenty… ten… nine — maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him — three… two… one…}

{BOOM.}

Ron shouted with excitement, and Harry was glad he didn't volunteer for the next chapter opting by default to read this one.

{The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.}

"Hm, I wonder who that could be," Ron said. "That's it for the chapter folks."

"Hand it over," demanded Hermione eagerly bouncing on her chair.

"Chill," said Harry hurridly passing her the book.

A/N: Don't forget to rr. I'll be starting school probably before this chappie is posted. So have a pleasant rest of the summer to all although mine's over.


	4. Chapter 4 The Keeper of the Keys

To Change the Future: The Philosopher's Stone

Chapter four: The Keeper of Keys

Disclaimer: Don't own the books, JKR does.

A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to crank out the next chappie. It just took it a little while for it to come to me.

"The Keeper of the Keys," Hermione read with a tone of excitement in her voice at the thought of Hagrid being said person. Some of the others in the room looked at her oddly assuming wrongly that her excitement was simply from her reading a good book, since the senior Malfoy's didn't bother to befriend the giant, they were clueless as to who "The Keeper of the Keys" was.

"Is that your giant of a friend, love?" asked Draco.

"Yes babe," Harry whispered ensuring that Dray's parents were unable to hear his response.

Hermione paused before she really got into the story proper and said, "Ron if you're a good boy and don't interrupt me much, you'll get a "surprise" later." she was careful to place emphasis on surprise in a way that the adults wouldn't catch the hidden meaning in her words. Giving him a quick peck on the lips, she continued.

[BOOM.]

[They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.]

["Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.]

Everyone snickered at Dudleys intelligence.

[There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands – now they knew what had been in the long,

thin package he had brought with them.]

"Fuck! The oath brought a gun." Exclaimed Mione. Everyone gaped open mouthed at her, cursing was very unlike her.

"I highly doubt that a slug from that gun could've pierced his skin," said Harry.

"What's a gun?" asked Ron.

"It's a muggle weapon," said Mione. "After we're finished reading these books, I'll take you to meet my parents and show you one that my dad uses to hunt." Ron gulped nervously at the mere thought of the inevitable talk that Mr. Granger would most likely give him about his "baby girl".

["Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you — I'm armed!"]

[There was a pause. Then —]

[SMASH!]

[The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.]

[A giant of a man]

"He's not a giant Harry," said Minerva. "Hagrid's a half-giant. His father was a Muggle, and his mother a giantess."

"Yeah, I know that Professor," responded Harry. He blushed as the thought of the possibility of how Hagrid was conceived crossed his mind. 'ugh'.

[was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.]

"Gee, Harry you sure do describe everyone in a flattering light," said Neville sarcastically.

[The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.]

["Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…"]

"Typical Hagrid," said Luna fondly. "I for one can't wait to see their trip to Diagon Alley."

[He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.]

["Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.]

[Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.]

["An' here's Harry!" said the giant.]

[Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.]

"He's really not a bad bloke Har," said Draco, the blond surprised everyone by stating such a fact.

"If only I had gotten to know the real Draco Malfoy sooner," said Harry wistfully. "Maybe then, things wouldn't have turned out as they have." Harry reached out for Dray's hand grasping it firmly and he continued to hold hands with Dray.

["Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes." Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.]

"That was the first time I heard that," Harry smiled. "But not the last." Everyone chuckled at that as they had been their all of the countless times that Harry had heard it before.

["I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"]

["Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant;]

[he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.]

"Wicked!" said Ron.

"Well that certainly takes care of that," said Hermione.

[Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.]

["Anyway — Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "A very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here — I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."]

"Ah, how thoughtful of him," said Narcissa. "Though you may want to reconsider eating anything he gives you for fear of loosing a tooth."

"Surprisingly it wasn't that bad," Harry said to the astonishment of everyone since they all had experience with Hagrid's cooking (except for Narcissa and Lucius).

"There's always the possibility that he had one of the Hogwarts Elves make it," said Mr. Malfoy.

[From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.]

[Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"]

"Mr. Potter, use your manners. He's your teacher and friend after all," scolded Professor McGonagall.

[The giant chuckled.]

["True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."]

[He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.]

["What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."]

"I can't believe that Hagrid will most likely drink in front of a student." Exclaimed Minerva. Harry hid a laugh behind the hand that he wasn't holding Draco's with, if she only knew that not only did he drink a bit around them, but that he'd gotten smashed during Harry's sixth year.

[His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.]

[The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea.]

"What do you reckon that the amber liquid is Fire Whiskey," said Ron.

"Could be," said Harry.

[Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."]

"How would you like some of my sausage," whispered Draco to Harry suggestively.

[The giant chuckled darkly.]

["Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry." He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."]

[The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.]

["Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts — yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course.]

"No he doesn't, because his horrible excuse for relatives never told him," said Lucius furious at the thought that a child could grow up without even knowing about the magical world.

["Er — no," said Harry.]

[Hagrid looked shocked.]

["Sorry," Harry said quickly.]

["Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"]

["All what?" asked Harry.]

"Hagrid's not going to be pleased by that," said Neville.

["ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered.]

["Now wait jus' one second!"]

[He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.]

["Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy — this boy! — knows nothin' abou' — about ANYTHING?"]

"I didn't really like the way he put that, it made me sound like an idiot," said Harry.

"Relax love. Hagrid has no tact at all. He only meant that you were ignorant of our world," said Draco.

[Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.]

["I know some things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff."]

[But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."]

["What world?"]

[Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.]

["DURSLEY!" he boomed.]

"Oooooou he's really in for it now," said Ginny gleefully.

[Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble." Hagrid stared wildly at Harry. "But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."]

"You mean to tell me that while every child in the wizarding world grew up knowing your name…reading story books about you… that you were clueless about everything. Your fame, your parents, about their deaths, everything," asked Ginny fuming.

"What do you think," replied Harry. "You lot know how much I hate my fame, haven't you guessed how truly appoling the Dursleys were?"

"Course," said Ginny. "Mione, will you continue? The sooner we finish reading, the sooner I can kill…"

"Back off, Gin-gin," said Draco. "I get first dibbs, or second, if Harry wants firsts." Hermione cleared her throat and continued where she'd left off.

["What? My — my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"]

["Yeh don' know… yeh don' know…" Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.]

["Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.]

[Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.]

["Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"]

[A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.]

["You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"]

["Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.]

["STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.]

[Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.]

["Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry — yer a wizard."]

[There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.]

["I'm a what?" gasped Harry.]

Everyone laughed.

["A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good 'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."]

[Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read:]

[HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY]

[Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE]

[(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)]

[Dear Mr. Potter,]

[We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.]

[Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.]

[Yours sincerely,]

[Minerva McGonagall,]

[Deputy Headmistress]

[Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"]

"Out of all of the millions of questions you could have asked, that's the first question that came to mind," asked Hermione, remembering the day she got her letter and all of the questions that she asked Minerva, (for the sake of this slightly AU version anyways).]

"What, it was the last thing that I read," said Harry defensively. Hermione just gave him an exasperated look and read:

["Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl — a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl]

"Poor owl," Ginny and Luna said in unison.

[— a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:]

[Dear Professor Dumbledore,]

[Given Harry his letter.]

[Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.]

[Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.]

[Hagrid]

[Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.]

"Too us owls and the floo system are as normal as talking on the telepon," said Ron.

[Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.]

["Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.]

["He's not going," he said.]

[Hagrid grunted.]

["I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.]

"You go Hagrid!" said Luna cheering him on.

["A what?" said Harry, interested.]

["A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."]

["We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"]

["You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a — a wizard?"]

"Of course they knew," Narcissa said bitterly. "How could any adult who was in their right mind deny a child knowledge about themselves and their family?"

["Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was?"]

["Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that — that school — and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats.]

["I was the only one who saw her for what she was — a freak!"]

Draco released his hold on Harry's hand and wrapped his arm around his shoulders in support.

["But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"]

"Jealous much." Said Minerva bitterly.

[She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.]

["Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as — as —abnormal — and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"]

"I can't believe that she told you like that," said Hermione sympathetically.

[Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"]

["CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"]

["What do you mean?" Harry asked.]

["But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.]

[The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.]

["I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh — but someone's gotta — yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."]

[He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.]

["Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh — mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it…"]

[He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with — with a person called — but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows —"]

["Who?"]

["Well — I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."]

["Why not?"]

"You were so innocent," Draco cooed at Harry.

"Hey, was not," Harry pouted.

"are not."

"are too."

"Knock it off you lot," said Lucius.

["Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went… bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was…"]

[Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.]

["Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.]

["Nah — can't spell it. All right —Voldemort."]

Harry was astonished and proud that only Narcissa and Lucius jumped at the name.

"Oh my God! You actually got him to say it," Luna said in surprise.

[Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this — this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too — some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches… terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him — an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.]

["Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before… probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.]

"As if the Potters would ever join the Dark Lord," said Narcissa. "They were to noble to fall for his powerful words and lies as we regrettably did."

["Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em… maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' — an' —"]

Everyone looked shaken upon hearing Mione reading this part.

[Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.]

["Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad — knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find — anywa…]

["You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then — an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing — he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it.]

"Why though?" asked Ginny rhetorically.

[Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh — took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even — but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry.]

[No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age — the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts]

[— an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."]

[Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before — and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.]

"Did things like that happen before," Draco asked as everyone else shivered.

"Naw," said Harry. "Tommy didn't start using occlumency or legilimency through my scar connection until around our fourth year. Though admitably, the first time, I only saw a momentary flash of his emotions." Draco scooted a bit closer to Harry as he said this.

[Hagrid was watching him sadly.]

["Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot…."]

["Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.]

["Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you,]

[probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured]

"He didn't touch you did he?" asked Dray. "If he ever raised a hand to you, I sware on Merlin's name, I'll kill him."

"No," Harry said.

[— and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion]

"How dare him…" said Minerva. It was obvious to everyone that she was thoroughly pissed.

[— asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types — just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end -"]

[But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat.]

"How threatening," said Draco sarcastically. "A pink umbrella?"

"It has the pieces of his broken wand in it," said Ron. "Never underestimate him."

[Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley — I'm warning you — one more word…"]

[In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.]

["That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.]

[Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.]

["But what happened to Vol-, sorry — I mean, You-Know-Who?"]

["Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see… he was gettin'

more an' more powerful — why'd he go?]

["Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die.]

"I agree," said Ginny. "He was definitely just barely human."

[Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.]

["Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on — I dunno what it was, no one does — but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."]

[Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake.]

[A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard? If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?]

["Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."]

[To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.]

["Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"]

[Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it… every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry… chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach… dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back… and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?]

"Technically, you didn't set the snake on him," said Minerva with a small smile on her face. "You freed him."

[Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.]

["See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard — you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."]

Harry groaned.

[But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.]

["Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish — spell books and wands and —"]

["If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born.]

[He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled—"]

Narcissa scoffed.

["I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.]

"He shouldn't have said that," Ron said amused.

[But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER —" he thundered, "— INSULT — ALBUS — DUMBLEDORE — IN — FRONT — OF — ME!" He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley — there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.]

"THAT'S GREAT!" Neville shouted and everyone laughed.

[Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.]

[Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.]

["Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."]

Harry chuckled.

[He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.]

["Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm — er — not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff — one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job."]

"Gee, he sure does know how to make a bloke feel special," Harry said sarcastically.

"Come on Harry mate, you know Hagrid loves you," Neville said.

["Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.]

["Oh, well — I was at Hogwarts meself but I — er — got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."]

["Why were you expelled?"]

"Don't you think that's a bit personal," said Nev.

"I was curious," Harry said.

["It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."]

[He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.]

"You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' doormice in one o' the pockets."]

"Disgusting!" shreaked Hermione.

"By the way, that's the end of the chapter." Said Hermione.

"Can we get something to eat yet?" asked Ron.

"I was wondering when you'd ask," said Harry. "Course mate." Hermione snapped the book shut as they walked over to a table in a corner on the far side of the room that had just appeared laden with food.

A/N: Hope you liked. What do you think of me writing a chapter at the end of the first book where the adults are allowed to leave the room to take care of strictly necessary things as long as they don't try to change things and they are forbidden to talk to anyone. In doing so, it'll leave the kids to get up to some mischief, like a game of truth or dare, or perhaps some of them playing pranks on each other?


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